, 1887-07-21
TIE LAPSE OF TINE. :
CORRESPONDENT WRITES OF
FAIR CHAUTAUQUA.
Telling the story of the Days When the
beautiful Lake Formed Part of the
Water Route from the 81. Lawrence to
the Mississippi.
Special Correspondence :

.'l7"stsA4 '"i 80 l"'!i'iri'f-.l
IATEsrrgy~. y. y. Iarch -.
Cath" IN his last novel Iii4kes the hero
say Just before tie civil war, ~AutIetam
Creebs l never heard of that before How
deficient in history our COUNTRY iS.r But the
student Il he viii but iIy.>tigat.. viii ind our
coumtry's soil rich with historical a.z5cia-
;ons, yielding plentiful Illustrations of the
great law OF a nations growth.
Take FOR instance. Virginia Among her
many memorials a. the proud and wealthy
colony OF century and half ago, are the
TIi.a> "i ,.,-tl@ churches and stately houses
built o.. imported brick, with carved mahog-
any stGircaSes and massive doors. Among
tha>-' that have not i,"erL allGwc-l u perish
with H--. s. s:n..s H.HI:sion iu Alexandria
1t va, uuiit OF material brought from Europe
IN l'a-i, and forms to-day a part of the
"Bgaddock House" the largest hotel of the
city About the ancient walls new ones have
been buit, AMI the pretty '.blue room" Is the
same one in which was hell the council
Of war that preceded BraddOck's cam-
paiEu In this rUom Gen. Braddock offered
10 u a-hiHgtCu Il cy'nlmiSSion As aid, and there
tlie plan Of campaign was agreed upon. Six
days after the historic march began which
end 81 in Bradiock's defeat. and the COM
IneHcrIHrHt ii the last of the series of wars
between TIE French and English, to decide
wL..yI Hat:ui! shoEii control the continent.
I'll" "gl.i.'r-tin. link between the French
r. ...-- o.. .':i.sr'n and Louisiana was the
p aS,- i'.rl iT' Ili LIKE Erie 20 Lake Chau-
tH4H'r -Hot!ier piare Of Interesting historical
associations. It's history in brief is this:
La Sale, the intrepid French explorer,
while learning the langtiage of the Seneca
Indians, was told by them of u great river
called the Ohio, which had its source in their
country, but whose mouth could be reached
only after a journey of several months. La
Sale determined to see this river. He sold
his Canadian possessions TO raise means of
purchasing four canoes and necessary sup
plies, and with fourteen men he started from
Canada in July, 1869, with two Senecas as
guides.
They landed on the southern shore Of Lake
Ontario and journeyed fifteen or twenty miles
southwark to the Indian villages. After the
desertiOn of most of his party and MANY
other discOuragementS La Sale reached
Chautauqua lake, descended to the Allegheny
and toated down the Ohio as far as the
rapids at Louisville, where the rest Of his
men deserted him, and he returned alone
Chautauqua lake is thus mentioned by his
biOgrapher: "A little lake, six or seven
miles south Of Lake Erie, its mouth opening
To the southeastward.n
No practical use was made Of this discovery
of short route across the watershed until
the French government, nearly eighty years
after, sent an expedition to take formal pos
session of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys in
the name of the sovereign of France Their
orders were to bury at stated intervals
.4H=aa L..
arms of France and statement of owner
ship. The party consisted of 40 Canadians
ami Indians. Their first encamnment was
near the foot of Chatauqua lake, and the first
leaien plate was buried Oh the present site OF
jamestown.
Three years after the governor general of
Canada, preparing for the war which re-
suitel from the counci! held in tine blue room
OF the Bra'ldOCk house, ordered portage
road constructed from Lake Erie to Lake
Chatauqua- This was accomplished i'll four
days by 400 men, and was well patr0nized
through the exciting months that followed
The last few miles still form the highway be
t cen the villages of WeSiiield and Mayvile
teIni ating at the dock from which the
crowded. st amers ply back and forth in the
surinI,sr mo.iths from the railroad to the
great Chautaugua assembly.
ifNi4iti Iiis t'.ttSts OF OiutlOn fiOtlla
built on Chautauqua lake. and 500 British
sol,ii..is and Indian allies embarked with the
intention OF capturing Fo.t Pitt nov Pitts
burg, but rIInors of the great strength of the
fort led to the abandonment of the scheme
Some fifty years ago, Il row of wooden piles
was discovered, extending across Chnutauqua
lake outlet, which are believed TO have been
put there for the purpose of causing Il suffi-
cient How of water to carry this. fiotilla to
Fort Pitt.
What contrast between tLeSe turbulent
scenes and the Chautauqua of to-day! On its
quiet shores is situated lovely summer city,
with 900 or more cottages, II large hotel,
stores for all needful supplies, police patrol,
daily newspaper, electric lights, in fact, all
the luxurieS one could desire, added to op-
portunities for recreation and instruction
| furnished by the rich programme of lectures
and concerts, the schools of language. normal
| classes and college of music. Tie forests,
which once resounded with Indian war cries
and the rattle of musketry, now echo with
! the merry laugh of children. the swelling
notes Of the great organ and the melody of
the sweet voiced Chautauqua chimes. AT
night all is quiet, save as the music of good
night song floats from some cottage door, or
the great clock in the tower strikes the hour
and seems to say "Alrs well"
NJ. 4. BARNEY.